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18 news posts in Frontiers in Built Environment

Engineering

03 Mar 2022

4 articles you need to check out on the future of building engineering

By Colm Gorey, Science Communications Manager Image: Robert Kneschke/Shutterstock.com The infrastructure that makes up our towns and cities is undergoing a technological and scientific revolution. Now, to help shine a light on some of these significant changes and what it means for engineering, Frontiers highlights just four of the latest research articles helping shape the future of construction. For most of the last century, humanity as a species was focused almost solely on building larger cities as fast as possible and with little thought on its impact to the environment. Now, with the climate crisis an unavoidable reality, this old style of thinking is being replaced by not only more sustainable engineering practices, but ones that revolutionize our very understanding of how we build. Here are just four recent articles published to Frontiers from some of the top researchers in their field as part of the Research Topic ‘Horizons in Built Environment‘. Comprehensive review on the dynamic and seismic behavior of flat-bottom cylindrical silos filled with granular material Storage containers of bulk material are known as bins, silos or even bunkers. Although there is no globally accepted definition for each of the previous terms, ‘bins’ or ‘bunkers’ are commonly used […]

Frontiers news

26 Feb 2019

Winner of Joseph M Sussman Best Paper Prize awarded to article proposing use of overhead line equipment in earthquake detection

In collaboration with the journal’s Field Chief Editor, Izuru Takewaki, Frontiers in Built Environment is delighted to announce that the winner Chayut Ngamkhanong, PhD student at the University of Birmingham, has won the first ever Joseph M. Sussman prize for the best article published in Frontiers in Built Environment — Transportation and Transit Systems in 2018. In 2018, Frontiers in Built Environment — Transportation and Transit Systems introduced a new prize to commemorate the legacy of late Specialty Chief Editor of the section, Massachusetts Institute of Technology JR East Professor Joseph M Sussman. Ngamkhanong explains: “This study is the world’s first to investigate the effect of harsh environment on overhead line equipment (OHLE) — the component which supplies the electric power to a train, yet is one of the most vulnerable components of the rail infrastructure. I am very pleased that this research has been recognized through this award.”  This paper contributes significantly to our understanding of the responses of OHLE to earthquakes, allowing engineers to create a more resilient design for this vital part of our infrastructure. Importantly, it presents a possible use of OHLE for earthquake detection, potentially increasing societies’ resilience to such natural disasters.  Far-Field Earthquake Responses […]

In 2011, the Tohoku earthquake created a series of huge tsunami waves, which damaged coastal communities killing more than 17,900 people, forcing more than 50,000 households to relocate, and caused the Fukushima nuclear power plant failure, a nuclear disaster second only to Chernobyl in Russia in 1986, but which spread radiation across the Pacific Ocean. Image by Shutterstock.

Engineering

29 Aug 2017

The losses that come after the earthquake: devastating and costly

A study, published in Frontiers in Built Environment, explores the economic losses associated with the secondary effects of earthquakes.

<p>izuru takewaki</p>

Engineering

26 Oct 2016

Sustainable and resilient structural design to combat earthquake disturbances

By Eva Brown, Frontiers Science Writer To help buildings become more resilient to earthquakes, scientists have taken measures to analyze various vibrational modes with the goal of creating safe and sustainable structures for future generations. Professor Izuru Takewaki and his team based at Kyoto University in Japan have centered their studies around the areas of earthquake engineering and the structural design of buildings. They are working towards grasping an understanding of how best to bring resilience in buildings — especially against natural disasters such as earthquakes. Their aim is to create safer and more sustainable constructions. “During Japan’s Tōhoku earthquake and Tsunami in 2011, many people were killed, so I’m working on developing safe designs of buildings,” Takewaki explains. “In my field we are looking at the worst case analysis as you don’t know when, where or how intense a disaster will be.  We are also looking at the resilience of the buildings to withstand earthquakes.” In order to set the ground for progress, the team set out to measure the different vibrational states, which would enable them to develop safer building designs that are more stable and structurally secure. This, in turn, will enable the structures to withstand the […]

<p>window</p>

Engineering

07 Apr 2016

Study shows best way to reduce energy consumption

By Fernando Bolaños, Science Writer We know adjusting the thermostat, using blinds, opening windows or using electronics such as a heater or air conditioning unit has an impact on the amount of energy consumed in homes. But a new study looks at which of these is the most efficient when it comes to saving power. “I was interested to find the trends of energy use in typical households and to understand the consumer behavior and the reasons behind high and low energy consumption. I have a strong belief that, if society boosts energy conservation (as well as other resources), we will have less of a challenge meeting future demands,” explained Dr. Gabriel Kamiel. Kamiel and Wei Yang and Yaolin Lin, associate professors at the Wuhan University of Technology in China developed a holistic and integrated model which considered the building enclosure, the mechanical systems, the external environment, the proportion of window opening and the shading factor based on data collected from 270 households including single and multiple units, as well as different heating methods. All houses were located in the city of Oshawa, Ontario, which is located 55 km east of Toronto, Canada. To calculate the building energy consumption, the […]